boognish

Interesting idea, but I have no experience with this. What are you trying to achieve? Or are you just curious?

"boozy taste" isn't all that descriptive for me...since booze tastes boozy.

My guess is early head cuts...but I'm guessing based on vague descriptions. Does it go away if you let the whisky sit for a few minutes and open up a bit?

Agreed on early head cuts. Don't get greedy. You can always redistill your cuts

We had to settle for the specialty distilled spirits category since we don't use corn, but rather barley.

When striving for "Green Whiskey" remember it is not just about fuel consumption. Remember before you make "Green" claims that your spirits are contained in a heavy glass container, and that you are shipping your liquid across the country burning fuel the whole trip. Remember too, our carbon footprint is inherently broad, since fermentation creates substantial CO2. So careful when you tag your goods as "Green".

+1

We had a water analysis done by White Labs, the analysis is done specifically for brewers so you will know what you are lacking in or have too much of. Well worth the expense I think it was about $100. Also water softeners can add to much salt so make sure you keep that in mind. Most of this information is in In Chris White PHD's book Yeast which I feel is a must read. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=yeast

Excellent recommendation

+1

You only have to satisfy the county/city, the feds don't care about anything but a lease, which is all you need to get a use permit, however, without approvals or a knowledge of your states issues you could end up walking a long line down research the hard way road and find your building will cost too much.

If i I were looking and not building I would go through this checklist.

1. 8000+ sq.ft mandatory sprinkled fully. Outside fenced parking lot a bonus.

2. Septic or city waste treatment give me a bid on connection fees and operational costs

3. water, same as 2.

4. Find out if #2 and #3 are paid for by state development stimulus funds which you can find out by speaking to your local sba consultant for free.

5. visit SBA score and find out what they think of your idea and who may be able to be there to help that they know. They are great net workers generally.

6. Get everything figured out, then approach a commercial real estate agent and ask him to narrow down potentials. They can save huge amounts of time and tell you what is reasonable. Always ask them to try the unreasonable, it finds out what true market conditions are and owners needs, sometimes they need longer term tenants and will take less from a more secured tenant vouch by the agents involved. The owners too look to them for advice.

7. Never be afraid to tell the county you need the money for connection fees wwaived or your 35 employee distillery (;exaggerate the number because it will be higher than just yourself at some point.) Will not be able to open under such heavy opening costs imposed by the city. How can we resolve this. This is when score becomes your friend. They are successful local business owners. They know the ins and outs and know how to find out what is possible. Not everyone gets treated fairly, that is a face JACK.

+1 would read again

From an ingredient standpoint, our recipe is inspired by Irish tradition

Interesting

Like every other part of this industry, there is a LOT going on with a fermentation. I think that a consultant is a good step for those who want peace of mind and good yields. Having dealt with fermentations of all types over the past few decades, I'm always amazed at how many different techniques there are...and I'm amazed just as often at the bone-headed procedures some people insist on using. Even though I don't think I need a fermentation engineer for myself (which probably means I'd better go find one...pride cometh before a fall!), I'd love to sit down and talk shop with one.

And while I'm not sure I'd enlist the help of too many homebrewers, I think that professional brewers are a great resource. Beer is a far more delicate, difficult beverage to ferment than what we require in a distillery. The finesse of a brewer can really help you...especially a brewer that does a lot of high-gravity beer. I've also learned a great deal from cider makers and mead makers. Not to mention wine and sake producers. The vinegar guys know some cool tricks, too!

All I am saying is that if you have never fermented anything, the best way to learn is by doing it. Fermenting for distillation is cake. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss homebrewers either. I know a lot of them whose expertise puts many of my pro brewing colleagues to shame.

I make an Irish style whiskey, but do in on the grain. It tastes great so I'm not too concerned about that

Brett is what I refer to as a polite yeast. Polite in the sense that it doesn't start doing its thing til all the other yeasts and bacteria are done with their thing. In a mixed culture pitch, you wont get any Brett character for a couple of weeks. I would be amazed if beam lets their mash ferment long enough for any sort of Brett character to come through in their whiskey. It would need to be at the absolute bare minimum of a month before any distinguishable Brett character would begin to show up in the mash. Interestingly, if you pitch Brett solo, it ferments pretty similarly sacc and much more cleanly than when pitched in aimed culture.

I hear ya but are you talking sach, lacto, Brett, pedio....? Most likely a blend of all of those. Kind of fascinating to me as I have done a lot of research and travel studying mixed culture and "wild yeast" brewing. White labs has some whiskey strains out right now, but not mixed culture. Surely there is lacto in there and of course sach. The thing is, in a typical whiskey mash fermentation, you really shouldn't have enough time for the "wild" yeast to take hold. Lacto *maybe* will have a day or two max to start doing its thing after the sach slows down. I strip my mash after 6 or 7 days. That doesn't allow for much wild yeast to do its thing

It doesn't have a very high alcohol tolerance, which means you end up leaving a lot of good sugar behind that never ferment. I am also not a fan of its aromatic properties in mead. That may be connected to the low tolerance. If you stress the yeast, you get off flavors. If you have your heart set on a "mead" yeast, check out wyeast's dry mead yeast. Great yeast. Makes fast and efficient work of fermentation. I have gotten it to ferment to 16% no problem, totally dry finish

You could use it, but it's not cheap.

Hard to tell but I would lean toward faulty calibration. Try calculating the volume as a cylinder. It should be within a couple gal of actual size

What species of wild yeast?

Can you distill off the mash without lautering?

Sure but it will sound odd to anyone involved in the alcohol business or knowledgeable beverage enthusiasts. The best thing you can do is to get a couple if batches of home brewed beer going. Once you do it a few times, you will see what I mean. If you have brewing questions check out www.brews-bros.com

One of the best homebrewers forums online.

I've had no issues with the lentina's tanks from st pats. Although the valves kinda suck. I swapped those out

My guess is they aren't making good cuts.

I've not used it for rum, but I don't like it for mead.

Yeah I read that about calamus after I had ordered some. Oh well. I didn't end up using it. I'll figure something out for it aside from bev use

It's all good natured ribbing! The chocolate malt is chocolatey for sure. Different beast than actual chocolate though

Nice! Who knows with as busy as I've been it might take me that long to get down there lol

_{I am really interested in this topic, and it has been very eye opening thus far...}

_{I have one question though, is it a must to use a malt chocolate as opposed to, lets say, store bought chocolate. I mean what are the faults with just melting down a chocolate bar and adding it to your mash? You can buy a 5 gallon bucket worth of chocolate icing like bakeries use and it would have fermentable sugars. I imagine you could buy it fairly cheap by the 5 gallon.}

_{Just curious...}